Jump to content
Customer Service 866.965.0400

Best aftermarket Headlight bulbs


bjoeaull

Recommended Posts

I know on this forum the focus is on detailing lights, but what headlight bulbs does everyone prefer. I use to always run silvestars, but was curious what else is out there and if anyone has experience with others! Would love hid but not sure if I feel like tackling that mod, don't want to ruin anything on the ride. Its for a sierra denali, and possibly a yukon denali if I like em enough!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im a fan of the silverstar ultras and I have also tried the PIAA ultra whites I liked them both. Im like you i dont wanna mess with HID's so these are my 2 choices. The PIAA's were about 80 and the silverstar ultras are about 50 so my choice is the Silverstars. I will however say stay away from silverstar fog lights. I have them in my GP and my S10 and neither one of them lasted long at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Nash, seems like they could have advanced in bulbs since they came out with the silverstars, they have been out a while. But maybe thats as good as it gets without going hid.

 

On a side note, I use to have a red 97 grand prix gtp coupe from roughly 97-2002 ish. I loved that car! I need to dig up some pics of it out of an old computer. I had a ram air hood, exhaust, 18" niche rims, eibach springs, blower pulley, and intake! I had a blast with it! Great body style. Yours looks sharp from what I see!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nick beat me to it, they're cheap and are truly HID's. Its a very simple mod! that can be undone and put back to stock in 5-10 minutes. The only cliche is if you have DRL's and they use your headlights as the DRL. Then you need a kit.

 

Ohh, Incase your wondering 4300-4500k are the OEM stock for cars that come with HID's installed

 

DDM Tuning : HID Kits

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DDM Tuning has the absolute worst customer service and shipping dept EVER! there lifetime warranty is a joke. if a bulb or ballast goes out, and you send it in to get replaced, good luck getting that replacement, it will be "lost in shipping" LITERALLY!

 

they started shipping their kits directly from China, where they are made. thats why shipping takes forever!

 

for a GM truck, look into spencershids.com his prices are reasonable, the lifetime warranty is worth it because he truely does honor it quickly. they're a little more expensive than the cheapo brands, but his business has more of an Adam's style to it. they are very personable, the owner lists his personal cell phone on the site and accepts calls at anytime of day!

 

oh, and HIDs are easier to install than most think. that is if you get a plug and play kit that doesn't require any cutting/splicing. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get the relay harness... pulls power directly from the battery and makes the ballasts last longer and run more efficiently

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So for you hid guys, I'm thinking on it now. What kit or whatever would I need to install on my 08 sierra denali? Can anyone send me in the right direction with where to buy for price, great quality, ease of installation. I would want them to be great quality, great longevity, nothing too cheap! lol I would also want them to look like factory color, not aftermarket. I also wouldn't want to blind anyone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So for you hid guys, I'm thinking on it now. What kit or whatever would I need to install on my 08 sierra denali? Can anyone send me in the right direction with where to buy for price, great quality, ease of installation. I would want them to be great quality, great longevity, nothing too cheap! lol I would also want them to look like factory color, not aftermarket. I also wouldn't want to blind anyone.

 

the low beams are H11, the high beams are 9005, and the fog lights are 5202

 

you really don't need high beam HIDs unless you use them quite often offroading and such. spencershids.com has a H-11 Low beam/5202 Fog light Bundle for $270, and it includes a relay for the low beams.

 

standard halogen bulbs are about 3800k. most cars with OEM HIDs use a 4300k colored bulb, its the brightest one. legally, you should get a color between 4000k and 6000k. any lower it gets too yellow and any higher it gets too bluish-purple. a 5000k bulb is pretty much pure white. just google hid color chart to see what color suits you.

 

you won't blind anyone if you properly adjust the headlights after installation... this is the most common missed step people forget which causes blindness to oncoming traffic!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

starting to think I like the hid option, as long as its simple to install and good quality that won't crap out on me in a year or two. I think I like the 5000k color. I have had a few cars with hid factory and always loved it. With my cars that had it factory, the light would shine out with a crisp line where it cuts off on the top (like if you shined them on a wall and they had a flat line cut off of light). Do these aftermarket ones do that?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 8000K HID's (yeah yeah I'm crazy) in my Avalanche, same H11 bulb. Only tricky part for me was having to open up the headlight casing, the way GM designed it is the worst. HID kits these days are plug and play, you connect a couple plugs, super simple, and you're set. I just installed my kit for the very first time a couple weeks ago, super happy with the way they turned out.

As for your line question, I think they need to be in projector headlights to have that flat line cut off the light. I need to add this as well, for the aftermarkets are just bulbs and my headlights flash the light everywhere, too bright for oncoming traffic!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

starting to think I like the hid option, as long as its simple to install and good quality that won't crap out on me in a year or two. I think I like the 5000k color. I have had a few cars with hid factory and always loved it. With my cars that had it factory, the light would shine out with a crisp line where it cuts off on the top (like if you shined them on a wall and they had a flat line cut off of light). Do these aftermarket ones do that?

 

NO. Never will a plug and play kit installed into a halogen housing have the proper cut off. The only way to achieve the proper cut off is to have a headlight hid retrofit where your headlights are opened up and the proper parts are installed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if your worried about glare and other traffic, and have the money to do it right, go here. HID Projector Headlight Retrofit for Subaru, Honda, BMW, Scion and More | LightWerkz.net

 

Thats the route I plan to go with my Silverado when I have the extra funds. Currently I have 6000k HID's with them aimed down a good bit. I still have much better lighting and dont blind anyone. I cant even see the face of the drivers in oncoming traffic on a two lane road. Still, If you can do it right, by all means..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

starting to think I like the hid option, as long as its simple to install and good quality that won't crap out on me in a year or two. I think I like the 5000k color. I have had a few cars with hid factory and always loved it. With my cars that had it factory, the light would shine out with a crisp line where it cuts off on the top (like if you shined them on a wall and they had a flat line cut off of light). Do these aftermarket ones do that?

 

No, that's the only draw back, the reason that you had a clean crisp cut off line is because you had projector Lenses where they were designed within the optics to cut off. If you didn't have projectors then you had a housing that was designed to reflect the HID light to a crisp cut off.

 

Your Sierra has a pretty good designed housing but it is unlikely you will have a crisp edge (you will get some scatter). If you have had stock HID's then they were within the 4300-4500k range just make sure you properly adjust them:)

 

Quick tid-bit 4300-4500k is actually the light we see on earth when the sun is out during the day. That is the whole reason behind the HID's that they can produce that same kelvin range. that is why they are so much safer then halogen and we can see more due to the fact that are eyes are "adjusted" for that frequency. That is also why manufacturers chose that freaquency range:thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really like what lightwerkz is doing, gonna check into that, although I have a feeling it might cost too much!

 

That is awesome. I always wondered when I saw some vehicles that I know do not come stock with HID's how they found replacement headlights with oem looking projectors

 

That is so cool, personally knowing about the optics involved in projector applications they should be alot higher in price then what they are charging for the retrofit kits!!!

 

That is a great value! Nice find

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if your worried about glare and other traffic, and have the money to do it right, go here. HID Projector Headlight Retrofit for Subaru, Honda, BMW, Scion and More | LightWerkz.net

 

Thats the route I plan to go with my Silverado when I have the extra funds. Currently I have 6000k HID's with them aimed down a good bit. I still have much better lighting and dont blind anyone. I cant even see the face of the drivers in oncoming traffic on a two lane road. Still, If you can do it right, by all means..

 

So with yours aimed down a lot, do you still get people brighting you, I would hate to be blinding people!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...